Cycle
by Ankh-Ascendant
Summary: Sequel to "In A Blue Moon: MPREG Version" and "Footsteps". After 400 years, Inuyasha has finally passed away, and Sesshoumaru is left with only his children - but eventually he is reminded that the past always comes back... In Progress.


_TITLE: Cycle  
CHAPTER: 1/??  
AUTHOR: Ankh Ascendant ( setosgirl0 / neferseti0 )  
DATE: 12-12-09  
FANDOM: Inuyasha  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha, or make any money from it.  
PAIRINGS: none this chapter.  
TYPE: Psychological  
RATING: chapter: PG-13  
WARNINGS: OCs and Character Death, and the series is about several different kinds of incest  
OCs: Tennin, Inumaru (Sesshoumaru's children)  
BETA: none  
WORDS: 853  
SUMMARY: Sesshoumaru has gone looking for Naraku, and unfortunately he finds him. Naraku imprisons him within his body, trying to break him and finally absorb him into himself.  
NOTES: I'm thinking I will continue this in a chapter story. And I'm thinking I will make everyone who liked my Tennin and Inumaru very unhappy... Sorry about that._

* * *

Cycle

In the dark halls of the ancient castle, quiet feet padded on cracking wooden floors. Dim light shone through the paper walls ahead of him, silhouetting the pair on the bed into an indecipherable single mass, and he silently came level with the door, nudging it aside to open a crack for his eye. A figure in white sat on the edge with his back to him, long silver hair falling to his side and mostly hiding the body he held.

"Father..."

The figures didn't move, but a quiet voice drifted from them. "Please go, Tennin."

"No, father." He slipped into the room and approached the bed, kneeling and lightly setting his hand on his parent's shoulder. From his side he could see into his lap, and see the frail body he was cradling so gently. His uncle's hair had gone from silver to pure white, and thinned slowly over the years until it barely covered his head. His ears were almost bald, drooping weakly toward his head.

"Let 'em stay, Sesshou..." he murmured, a frail hand coming up to pat his mate's arm. Vague, pale golden eyes opened and wandered up to him. "Inu... 'S Inu here...?" he murmured absently.

"No, uncle." He squeezed his father's shoulder gently, seeing the way his hands tightened around Inuyasha and held him close. "I sent him out when we learned that you were ill. He wouldn't have been able to take this."

"Oh..." He closed his eyes again and turned his face into his mate's chest. Inuyasha had fallen ill months ago, and Inumaru had been sent on his quest into the human world months ago, to occupy him. Inuyasha had been told this since it happened, but he still asked after him every day. "...'S a good idea... He's my kid, ya know..."

"We know, Uncle. He knows. He loves you."

"Love you two... too..." His muttering trailed off.

In the silence, Sesshoumaru bowed his head, shoulders tense. Tennin held his shoulder gently, but said nothing. Inuyasha was not yet dead, but he was very close; he couldn't survive the hour, let alone the night. There was no way of knowing what Sesshoumaru was going through right now, and nothing he could say to make it any better on him.

It was a long time before Inuyasha spoke again. When he did, even youkai ears had to strain to hear him. "Take... care of each... oth..."

The word was never finished. When it faded away, Tennin knew that his uncle had finally passed on with the high whine of pure pain that escaped his father. Sesshoumaru clutched his body close with his single arm and leaned over him, head bowed into his neck. His whines were muffled in the dead body he held, a small and pathetic sound in the dim room.

Tennin watched him and respected his privacy for only a moment before he firmly wrapped his arms around Sesshoumaru's shoulders. "Hold on, father," he counseled quietly, touching his hair gently. "You have the strength to live without him, if you want to." His fingers brushed over the mating bite on his father's neck, the mark that bound him and Inuyasha together, so much so that it was more likely than not that he would die with his mate. Not written in stone, however. "You can live, father. You have only to want to."

The problem was wanting to. Why should he want to live when his mate had died? Sesshoumaru was, perhaps,the strongest youkai alive, but that meant nothing if he didn't want to remain alive.

His father made no sign that he had heard him. Would it be cruel of him to want his father to live this way, alone, when he had been mated for almost four hundred years? Perhaps, he should simply let him die, if he wanted to...

But, he didn't want to bury two parents today. It might be kinder to simply let him die, and maybe he should, but he couldn't. Almost unwilling, he touched his father's chin and urged him to look up at him. Candlelight reflected from wetness in his eyes and large, round pupils. He had never before thought that Sesshoumaru could cry...

"You can live," he murmured. "Please."

Sesshoumaru swallowed what was probably another whine of pain and closed his eyes, bowing his head. There was no indication whether he meant it as agreement or not, but he didn't ask; he helped his father to lay down and gently took Inuyasha's body from him, and sat at his side stroking his hair until he fell asleep, or passed out from the emotional exhaustion.

The candle burned all the way down, and he had not yet died; Tennin guessed he would live, though only time would tell. Stroking his hair once more, then lightly touching one of the stripes on his cheek, he slid from the bed and picked up his uncles body, carrying him gently outside to take care of his body before Sesshoumaru woke.

_~end~_


End file.
